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In this times of "swagger" and social media, what you project out into the world seems to be the reality for lots of people. The truth is Parsons can ball. Not many 6'9 6'10 dudes got his facilitating passing shooting slashing game. If he can put it all together and stay healthy he can help someone win. But let's get real... not all MAX players are actually MAX players. James is a MAX player. Parsons isn't.

Someone needs to shut this guy's mouth who says these things on the day you got signed? Even Lebron's ego isn't this big wtf.

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I think Persons meant first big name FA who signed with the team. Gasol was traded if I'm not mistaken. However there has to be some other FA who signed with the team who's better than Persons. Maybe he signed for the most money, but he can't be the biggest name. Is he even a big name around the NBA? He's a known glorified role player.

I think Persons meant first big name FA who signed with the team. Gasol was traded if I'm not mistaken. However there has to be some other FA who signed with the team who's better than Persons. Maybe he signed for the most money, but he can't be the biggest name. Is he even a big name around the NBA? He's a known glorified role player.

Nah, he is a good basketball player, who has worked the market to his advantage, it is the American way.

DD

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He is an above average injury riddled douchebag who is using the market to his advantage. Nobody should begrudge him for making money like I said but he's a low character person and deserves the hate he gets. He brought it on himself.

Good and hardest working basketball player for the 2013-14 season. I believed he logged the most minutes and distances that season. As good as Harden has been, his on coach re-assignment of Beverly on the in-bounder and Parsons on Lillard at the very last moment was a disaster that added to the fiasco that removed Parsons from the Rockets that off season.

Grizzlies in the first 24 hours of free agency. You committed to Memphis on the spot after that meeting. Why Memphis over Portland?

Parsons: It was a very, very tough decision. I have nothing but respect for Portland and what they're doing, and I think they have a tremendous future. This really just came down to a gut feeling of mine. I felt extremely comfortable with the management and coach [David] Fizdale. We hit it off right away. We had a past relationship with him being my coach in the Rookie-Sophomore game, and I actually randomly saw him in Orlando with my parents and stopped and talked to him for like 30 minutes when he was still with Miami.

Just looking at his body of work with what he's done with wings in the league and his vision for me, it just felt right. It basically came down to me being comfortable and trusting the coaching staff. They made unbelievable points about how my usage rate has been down my entire career. The way he's going to use me in this offense, I think I can really flourish and be the best player I can be.

ESPN: You felt the same way going to Dallas, and that role never really materialized like you envisioned. Why do you think it didn't happen in Dallas and why will it be different in Memphis?

Parsons: I was only there two years. The first year was about getting my feet wet. We had good scorers with Monta [Ellis] and Dirk [Nowitzki] doing their thing, and I kind of just tried to fill a role and do anything I can. Obviously, I was sidelined with unfortunate injuries, which was completely out of my control. But I never really had the opportunity, the keys to the offense. I loved playing for coach [Rick] Carlisle. He was very, very good for me, and we have a special relationship that will continue even though I'm not playing there, and learning from a guy like Dirk was great.

But this just seems like a new, fresh start for me. I have a young head coach that is a huge fan of my game and is just simply looking at numbers and seeing that my usage rate hasn't been up. If you look at guys whose [production] compares to mine, comparing usage rate numbers, mine's extremely low. I think [Fizdale] is going to obviously bump that up, and with the personnel that's on the roster right now for Memphis, it's a perfect fit. We'll be able to play off each other very well. Coach Fizdale's system, the way he coached guys like LeBron [James] and [Dwyane] Wade and Joe Johnson in Atlanta, that's how I want to be coached. That's how he sees me.

ESPN: Are you disappointed that the Mavericks -- and especially Mark Cuban, considering your relationship -- didn't really make much of an effort to keep you?

Parsons: It was more shocking. It is a business and I understand that aspect of it. I think the fans of Dallas were great, but they don't really understand the whole story of everything. If they did, they wouldn't have negative feelings towards me. Everything I did in Dallas was for the team and for the organization and for the city. Whether that's recruiting DeAndre Jordan, putting my absolute heart into that, although it didn't work, that was to make our franchise better and to help us win games. Getting hurt two times, that's just bad luck. It's kind of sickening when you see fans write something about your injuries or my knees, like that's in my control.

I obviously wish things went a little bit differently in Dallas and that I was healthy and able to play in the playoffs, but like I said, everything I've done for them, whether it was coming off the bench or getting hurt or recruiting, that was all for [the fans]. I have no bad feelings toward them. I obviously thought I was going to be in Dallas a lot longer than I was, but it's a business and Mark has to make decisions. He makes mostly all of them, so this was on him.

ESPN: Should it be 'Grit, Grind 'n Glamour' now that you're with the Grizzlies?

Parsons: No, I don't think so. Grit 'n Grind is something that this core group of guys with Marc [Gasol], Mike [Conley], Z-Bo [Zach Randolph] and Tony [Allen] have established here. It's something special. It's in their DNA, and it's in their culture and in this community. Maybe not by looking at me -- I kind of have the pretty-boy tag -- but that's not me. I compete, I play hard, I'm tough. That's kind of how I got my niche in the league, doing all the dirty things. Playing under Kevin McHale, I was taught from my rookie year to take charges, dive on the floor.

As my career has progressed, I've changed a little bit, but that's who I am as well. I think you add a guy like me who's hungry and willing to take the big shot and really be the versatile forward that this team's been missing. I think my game really complements their game and vice versa. Grit 'n Grind or not, I think we're going to mesh very, very well together, and I think those guys are a perfect group of players to play with me.

ESPN: They've established a very tough, physical identity. What do you think you can bring to Memphis that the Grizzlies haven't had?

Parsons: I think I can just bring that forward who can ... make big plays and score and, like I said, can take the big shot and play off those other four guys. I'm very unselfish. I'm very versatile. I think I can make those guys better, as well as they can make me better. I can stretch the floor and shoot when we go big with the two big guys inside, and I can get out and run and play the 4 when we go small. I think I just help them with more of a versatile look.

ESPN: You had max offers and meetings with the Trail Blazers and Grizzlies in the first 24 hours of free agency. You committed to Memphis on the spot after that meeting. Why Memphis over Portland?

Parsons: It was a very, very tough decision. I have nothing but respect for Portland and what they're doing, and I think they have a tremendous future. This really just came down to a gut feeling of mine. I felt extremely comfortable with the management and coach [David] Fizdale. We hit it off right away. We had a past relationship with him being my coach in the Rookie-Sophomore game, and I actually randomly saw him in Orlando with my parents and stopped and talked to him for like 30 minutes when he was still with Miami.

Just looking at his body of work with what he's done with wings in the league and his vision for me, it just felt right. It basically came down to me being comfortable and trusting the coaching staff. They made unbelievable points about how my usage rate has been down my entire career. The way he's going to use me in this offense, I think I can really flourish and be the best player I can be.

ESPN: You felt the same way going to Dallas, and that role never really materialized like you envisioned. Why do you think it didn't happen in Dallas and why will it be different in Memphis?

Parsons: I was only there two years. The first year was about getting my feet wet. We had good scorers with Monta [Ellis] and Dirk [Nowitzki] doing their thing, and I kind of just tried to fill a role and do anything I can. Obviously, I was sidelined with unfortunate injuries, which was completely out of my control. But I never really had the opportunity, the keys to the offense. I loved playing for coach [Rick] Carlisle. He was very, very good for me, and we have a special relationship that will continue even though I'm not playing there, and learning from a guy like Dirk was great.

But this just seems like a new, fresh start for me. I have a young head coach that is a huge fan of my game and is just simply looking at numbers and seeing that my usage rate hasn't been up. If you look at guys whose [production] compares to mine, comparing usage rate numbers, mine's extremely low. I think [Fizdale] is going to obviously bump that up, and with the personnel that's on the roster right now for Memphis, it's a perfect fit. We'll be able to play off each other very well. Coach Fizdale's system, the way he coached guys like LeBron [James] and [Dwyane] Wade and Joe Johnson in Atlanta, that's how I want to be coached. That's how he sees me.

ESPN: Are you disappointed that the Mavericks -- and especially Mark Cuban, considering your relationship -- didn't really make much of an effort to keep you?

Parsons: It was more shocking. It is a business and I understand that aspect of it. I think the fans of Dallas were great, but they don't really understand the whole story of everything. If they did, they wouldn't have negative feelings towards me. Everything I did in Dallas was for the team and for the organization and for the city. Whether that's recruiting DeAndre Jordan, putting my absolute heart into that, although it didn't work, that was to make our franchise better and to help us win games. Getting hurt two times, that's just bad luck. It's kind of sickening when you see fans write something about your injuries or my knees, like that's in my control.

I obviously wish things went a little bit differently in Dallas and that I was healthy and able to play in the playoffs, but like I said, everything I've done for them, whether it was coming off the bench or getting hurt or recruiting, that was all for [the fans]. I have no bad feelings toward them. I obviously thought I was going to be in Dallas a lot longer than I was, but it's a business and Mark has to make decisions. He makes mostly all of them, so this was on him.

ESPN: People look at you and see you as a Hollywood kind of guy, a guy who enjoys the nightlife and being around celebrities and that sort of thing. What made Memphis a fit?

Parsons: This is a perfect example of how people can be misunderstood and misjudged. This decision was clearly based on basketball and fit and me being comfortable. I think it's kind of strange when players get knocked for having off-the-court marketing deals. I enjoy that kind of stuff, but at the same time, I understand that I don't have any of that without basketball. Me making this decision to come to Memphis should show everybody that basketball is obviously my No. 1 priority. I think we have something special here and we're going to win here. All the other stuff comes after that. Hollywood or pretty boy, whatever, I just made a decision to come to the grit 'n grind city of Memphis for a reason. That's to play basketball and win.

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